Practice Management Can Improve Efficiency

FRIDAY, June 29, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Providers can take practical steps to improve practice efficiency and increase insurance reimbursement, according to an article published in Dermatology Times.

In a talk at the American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting earlier this year, Howard Wooding Rogers, M.D., urged providers to conduct a financial analysis to determine how best to strengthen their practice without adding more patients. He also encouraged adoption of practice management strategies to maximize income and decrease expenses, including adding more office hours, cultivating referrals for new services, and hiring a new provider.

He also suggested methods aimed at increasing efficiency. These include using scribes and advanced practice providers, improving scheduling, sending paperwork to patients in advance, using prepopulated prescriptions and forms, and optimizing billing. Rogers also proposed renegotiating insurance contracts and dropping insurers paying at "subpar" levels.

"Everybody thinks their insurance contracts are set in stone, but they're not," Rogers said.